The 76-year-old Brown, inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame
in 1983, expressed enthusiasm about lacrosse in general, getting
involved in the MLL, and reflected on his playing career at
Syracuse and growing up learning the sport in Manhasset on Long
Island's North Shore.

"We didn't play it for money, we played it because we loved the
game," Brown said. "To now be involved [with lacrosse] and be
dealing with a New York team, that's pretty good."

On Thursday, Brown flew in from California, where he lives, and
met in New York with Andrew Murstein, the president of Medallion
Corp., the team's majority owner. Brown was also scheduled to speak
by phone with MLL commissioner Dave Gross. Brown will be at the
Lizards' home game on Friday against the Ohio Machine an hour
before its 7 p.m. faceoff to meet fans at Hofstra's Shuart
Stadium.

We had the chance to talk with Brown, widely considered the
greatest football player ever and one of lacrosse's all-time greats
as well, for about 20 minutes Thursday. The conversation
follows:

LM: Why get involved in the Lizards and how did this
come about?

JB: For the last two or three years I've been
talking to lacrosse groups across the country, particularly in
Florida and on Wall Street about starting a youth league in
Florida, and lacrosse has been growing. As you know, those of us
who play the game, love it. We have our own little cult, have our
own experiences. When I started getting involved, I got more and
more interested and then this opportunity came along with the
Lizards. I really liked it. I liked the fact that they are
rebuilding. And the ownership is interested in diversity.

Andrew Murstein [the president of Medallion Financial] is quite
an interesting young man. I met him through a person that used to
hold the [Cleveland] Browns trust, Bill Futterer. When the Browns
were no longer existing in Cleveland and being held in trust, Bill
was the overseer of it. He exposed me to Andrew. Today is the first
day that I've met Andrew, but I've talked with him over the phone.
The way that he runs his company is amazing to me. Their interest
in supporting minority businesses, and consciensouly doing that
over the years is something that I've always espoused in America. I
never thought I'd run into a company that actually did that, and
consciensouly did it. With his interest in having a professional
lacrosse presence in the New York area, that's a natural for me
because I grew up on Long Island [Manhasset].

What about your time at Manhasset? Why did you start
playing lacrosse?

I had a great experience. Ed Walsh, my coach. Dr. Collins, the
superintendent of schools. Judge Kenny Molloy [a Syracuse alum who
encouraged then-coach Roy Simmons, Sr. to take a look at Brown] ...
I was a little boy. Those memoires are unbelievable. ... In junior
high school, Jason Stranahan was the coach and he recruited us as
boys. He gave us a stick and taught us the game. So I started in
junior high. I went on to high school and really got interested.
Sewanhaka was the big team at the time. They had all the good
players and teams at the time. When I went to Syracuse, we had a
lot of those Sewanhaka players on our team at Syracuse. So we ended
up having an undefeated senior year [10-0 in 1957].

You're going to the Lizards game Friday. Do you plan on
being around the team a lot going forward?

I'm going to get around the team as much as I can, and I'll be a
nuisance [laughs]. I'm not going to second-guess anybody, but I'm
going to try to work with them as much as I can, because in the
rebuilding stages, there are a lot of things you need to do. I have
some really good lacrosse contacts that have dealt with the history
of the game and know and love the game.

What's been your involvement in the sport been recently,
or since Syracuse? I know you were at the Tewaaraton Awards last
year.

That was quite nice [last year]. With the group in Florida and
the group on Wall Street, we were thinking about starting a Jim
Brown Lacrosse League for the kids in Florida. I would have
participated and made my presence felt to really advocate for the
sport. Now, I'm talking with the owners about their interest about
promoting the game and exposing it to youngsters that maybe
wouldn't have an opportunity. If we could start a winning tradition
and a tradition of expanding the game to kids who wouldn't have the
opportunity, those two things would be my aim.

Would you have played pro lacrosse if it were around in
your day? When did you realize there was a pro league out
there?

When I was around, there was nothing, so that was that. But
lately I've become aware there is pro action. I'm not familiar with
it enough to discuss it, but I will be soon. I'm very happy that's
happening because over the years there have been a lot of
outstanding players, you know. Think of the Gait brothers at
Syracuse, they were legendary, and [people] always talk to me about
these legendary lacrosse players to share war stories and so forth.
I don't know what I would have played if I had an opportunity on an
equal level to choose between football and lacrosse. It would have
been a toss-up.

For people who didn't see you play, what was your
position and what were you like as a player?

I was a midfielder and I did the facing-off. I'm right-handed,
but I had a little lefty, righty. You had to practice and get a
little lefty going. I had an underhand shot, which worked very well
for me. I was bigger than most of the guys [laughs] so I had an
advantage there. We had a great team. We had some great players. We
had a great goalie, Oren Lyons, from the Onondaga Nation, and Roy
Simmons, Jr., was my teammate and he went on to become of the great
coaches. Roy Simmons, Sr., was our coach.

Do you watch any games on TV? How much do you follow the
game?

I was trying to keep up with it as they were paring down [in the
NCAA tournament]. I think Duke had a pretty good team. Notre Dame
went to the final four, Loyola. I was kind of watching them pare it
down. In other years, I was watching Syracuse getting ready to win
it.

Do you have any family members that play
lacrosse?

Nope, not at all. It's amazing. But I have some modern sticks
that were given to me by the Syracuse players, so I have some
up-to-date equipment, which is quite different than the stuff we
used to use.

"It's like bringing me back alive. It's something I know,
something I did, something I understand and something I love, and
here I am involved with it again. That's pretty good."

Today, more and more football players playing lacrosse
and vice versa, or playing multiple sports. What skills carried
over between the sports for you?

In college, the football players played lacrosse in the
offseason. In fact, our defenses were made up of football players.
Jim Ridlon was one of our real great players. He wasn't a great
stick-handler, but he could run, he could check people, he could
clear the ball. He was quite a player. That was a good game for the
football team. A lot of guys went out for the team.

What do you expect on Friday at Hofstra?

I don't know what to expect. I guess I should expect something
or nothing or whatever. I feel secure, because I was a legitimate
player and I think one of the pioneers of the game. When I say
pioneer, I only mean simply I played the game seriously when a lot
of people didn't play it.

Those fans out there, if they are lacrosse lovers, then we're a
family. That's no jive. We are a part of each other, because the
only reason I played was because I loved the game. I didn't make a
nickel playing lacrosse, couldn't make a nickel playing it, and we
played it all the way through our senior year in college. We had an
undefeated season, played for the love of the game, love of the
coach, so I think I'll be in positive surroundings because we'll
all be there for the same thing. It is a cult. It's a group of
people that understand and enjoy the value of the game, the
excitement of the game, the speed of the game, the skill of the
game. Those things are all a part of lacrosse.

So, it seems from talking to you and hearing you talk at
the Tewaaraton last year, you really love this sport?

I'll tell you what, the individuals in lacrosse are more vivid
in my mind than football players because we were sort of like the
lone rangers out there. We knew it was a great game, and it was new
and we played it, and we played it well.

That stick was a challenge because you had to become a
stick-handler. You couldn't fake that. But you could work on it as
much as you wanted to where you could turn that stick upside down,
hit that ball and pick it up. Some of the trickery that you can
develop, it's like Tiger Woods bouncing the ball on his golf club.
You can do certain things with the lacrosse stick and ball just by
practicing. You're never at a loss for getting better. You can get
better and better as a stick-handler.

Do you get back to Long Island often?

It's been about 3-4 years. It's been a while, but I'll be
getting back quite a bit more now.

Will you be involved in any player
decisions?

No, no. I was watching some highlights and there was one kid I
saw on one of the college teams, quick as a flea. It's so funny
because I'm going to track him down, find out who he is and,
without imposing anything, see if we can get him.

What vision do you have for lacrosse in the
future?

I see lacrosse as a true sport. I think soccer is good example
of kids' involvement in a new sport. I think lacrosse is like that.
Every kid can't play the normal sports and get the same
opportunity, but I find that my two kids play soccer, and the other
kids that play lacrosse, they're all happy. They don't have to play
the big three [football, baseball, basketball]. It seems like the
country is discovering it because it's supposed to be the fastest
growing sport in America. That means it's catching on.

It's like bringing me back alive. It's something I know,
something I did, something I understand and something I love, and
here I am involved with it again. That's pretty good.